UN: Demolition of Gaza homes is violation of international law

Prendergast made the comment while briefing Security Council members on a periodical UN report which among other topics includes the situation in the territories.

Meanwhile, the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said Friday evening that in the previous 48 hours Israel Defense Forces troops had demolished 62 homes in the Brazil and a-Salam neighborhoods in Rafah.

A total of 40 Palestinians have been killed since the start of operations in the Gaza border town this week, most of them armed, the army claims

Prendergast said that since the intifada erupted in September 2000, about 18,000 people in the Gaza Strip had lost their homes. According to the report, UN agencies esimate that $32 million will be needed to rebuild the destroyed homes.

"To date UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) has managed to rehouse only 1,000 homeless people," the senior UN officials said.

In discussing events in the territories over the last month, Prendergast said that 128 Palestinians and 19 Israelis had been killed during this time.

The deputy head of Israel's mission to the UN, Ambassador Aryeh Mekel, slammed the report as blatantly one-sided.

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